In some of the air guns which fire a bullet using compressed gas such as CO2 gas, an attachable/detachable toy gun gas cartridge loading device (puncture unit) is attached to the gun body with a gas cylinder housed in the loading device.
This type of air gun is more advantageous than a toy gun with a gas cylinder housed directly in the gun body in the sense that it is easier to cope with change in the gas which may be caused by firing. The reason is as follows. Generally, in an air gun which uses compressed gas as an energy source, the gas becomes cool after firing. When the gas becomes cool, the expansion force of the gas weakens and the following problem arises: the bullet speed drops or in the case of a blowback toy gas gun, the gun fails to work normally, for example, a blowback failure occurs.
In a toy gun in which a gas cylinder is housed directly in the gun body, it is difficult to warm up the gas which has been once used and become cool without taking a measure to warm the toy gun such as putting it in a warm place.
A toy gun which uses an attachable/detachable toy gun gas cartridge loading device is more convenient because the user can restart using the gun immediately after replacement of the toy gun gas cartridge loading device.
In the case of a toy gun in which two gas cylinders are housed directly in the gun body, it is troublesome that the user has to replace the gas cylinders one by one.
On the other hand, a toy gun that uses a toy gun gas cartridge loading device is more convenient in the sense that even when the air gun uses two gas cylinders, the user has only to replace a single puncture unit upon replacement of the gas cylinders.
There are two types of toy air gun which use a toy gun gas cartridge loading device: in one type, a valve to fire a bullet is built in the gas cartridge loading device and in the other type, the gas cartridge loading device does not have such a valve.
In the latter type of air gun, the toy gun gas cartridge loading device is attached to the toy gun body, so that the gas in the gas cylinder of the gas cartridge loading device flows into the air chamber of the toy gun body. As the user pulls the trigger to fire a bullet, a discharge valve opens and gas rapidly flows out of the air chamber to fire the bullet. The present invention concerns an air gun which uses the above toy gun gas cartridge loading device and has a valve built in the toy gun body.
An example of a toy gun gas cartridge loading device of this type in the related art is disclosed in JP-A-2012-42116 entitled TOY GUN AND LOADING DEVICE. It is described as follows: “An air chamber body 122 located in a toy gun forms an air chamber 126. The compressed gas in the air chamber body 122 passes through a gas discharge part to fire a bullet held in a bullet holder from a muzzle. A valve opens and closes the communication between the air chamber body 122 and the gas discharge part according to operation of an operating part. The toy gun includes a plurality of gas cartridge holders 210. Gas cylinders 102 are loaded in the gas cartridge holders 210. Each gas cartridge holder 210 has a first valve. The compressed gas in the gas cylinder 102 loaded in the gas cartridge holder 210 is passed through a gas introduction part 301 and introduced into the air chamber 126.”
However, when the toy gun gas cartridge loading device is detached from the gun for replacement, etc., if there is residual compressed gas in the air chamber of the toy gun body, the gas is going to flow out rapidly, so the toy gun gas cartridge loading device may jump out of the toy gun body. Therefore, in order to prevent the toy gun gas cartridge loading device from jumping out in this way, a toy gun in the related art has a double-step mechanism to detach the toy gun gas cartridge loading device from the toy gun body as mentioned below.
The double-step mechanism in the related art is as shown in FIGS. 16 to 21. FIG. 16 is a fragmentary enlarged view of a toy gun gas cartridge loading device attached to a toy gun in the related art and its vicinity; FIG. 17 is a sectional view of the toy gun gas cartridge loading device in the related art; FIG. 18 is a fragmentary enlarged view of the toy gun gas cartridge loading device in the related art and its vicinity, in which the toy gun gas cartridge loading device is being detached from the toy gun with a second puncture catch engaged with the toy gun gas cartridge loading device; FIG. 19 is a left side view of the toy gun in the related art; FIG. 20 is a left side view of a real gun on which the toy gun in the related art is based; and FIG. 21 is a perspective back view of the toy gun in the related art with the toy gun gas cartridge loading device detached.
In this related art technique, a reference numeral 101 denotes a toy gun body and 102 denotes a valve. As shown in FIGS. 16 and 18, the valve 102 is fixed in the gun body 101. A reference numeral 111 denotes a toy gun gas cartridge loading device (puncture unit) which houses two gas cylinders 112.
A member which cancels the engagement between the valve 102 and the toy gun gas cartridge loading device 111 is referred to as a first lock (puncture catch) 113 and a member which once locks the toy gun gas cartridge loading device 111 is referred to as a second lock (second puncture catch) 114.
A fixing groove 115 is provided on a lateral side of the toy gun gas cartridge loading device 111. As the toy gun gas cartridge loading device 111 begins to disengage, a puncture catch lock 116 attached to the tip of the first lock 113 of the toy gun body 101 fits in the fixing groove 115, so that the toy gun gas cartridge loading device 111 is once locked and fixed (FIG. 18).
By pushing down the first lock 113 located in the loading device housing 103 of the toy gun body 101, the first lock 113 is turned and the toy gun gas cartridge loading device 111 is disengaged from the first lock (puncture catch) 113.
At this moment, the toy gun gas cartridge loading device (puncture unit) 111 is going to be released from the toy gun body 101 by the pressure of the gas in the air chamber of the toy gun body 101 but the puncture catch lock 116 at the tip of the second lock 114 fits into the fixing groove 115 of the toy gun gas cartridge loading device 111.
The gas in the air chamber is passed through the space between the toy gun gas cartridge loading device 111 and the air chamber 104 and forced out of the toy gun body 101.
Then, by pushing down the second lock 114, the toy gun gas cartridge loading device 111 and the second lock 114 are disengaged from each other and as shown in FIG. 19, the toy gun gas cartridge loading device 111 can be removed safely.
In other words, the double-step mechanism to detach the toy gun gas cartridge loading device 111 from the toy gun body 101 includes the following steps as shown in FIGS. 16 to 21.
(1) Immediately after the valve 102 in the toy gun body 101 and the first lock 113 of the toy gun gas cartridge loading device 111 are disengaged from each other, the toy gun gas cartridge loading device 111 is once locked by the second lock 114 as another lock member provided on the toy gun body 101.
As a consequence, the gas in the air chamber of the toy gun body 101 flows out of the toy gun body 101, thereby eliminating the possibility that the toy gun gas cartridge loading device 111 might jump out.
(2) The user unlocks the toy gun gas cartridge loading device 111 from the second lock 114 and removes the toy gun gas cartridge loading device 111 from the toy gun body 101.